Student on Sports, formerly a part of IUPUI Campus Citizen, is your one-stop-shop for all things sprouting from the head of this American sports fanatic, blogging on European football to American college sports and everything in between!

December 20, 2011

SPORTS: Men's Basketball Wins Third Straight

Cardinals star Jarrod Jones, who finished with a career high 26 points in the BSU (6-3) 69-62 defeat over the Jags Nov. 23, was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week after helping lead his team to six straight wins.

Monday night he finished with 16 points and five boards, but was just 5-of-13 from the floor.

“It was worrisome because right out of the gates he got some quick ones. He’s good,” said Coach Todd Howard. "I thought we did a very good job holding him to five makes and even holding him to 13 attempts Is hard to do, but only five makes is a whale of a job.”

Jones led the Cardinals to a quick 8-0 run in the beginning of the game.

Jags six-foot sophomore Ian Chiles had his best game of the season finishing with 17 points, 15 in the first half. Chiles layup at 13:57 was the start of his imperative first half. Down 26-20, Chiles scored from behind the arc. He followed with an assist to Donovan Gibbs who was open in the lane from BSU defensive miscommunication. At 2:30 left in the first half, jersey no.4 hit a teardrop on an aggressive drive, cutting the deficit to one, 27-28.After Marcellus Barksdale found Lyonell Gaines open in the lane, Chiles ended the half with a pull up three- ball giving them the 32-29 lead at the half.

Young picked up the second half where Chiles ended the first half. On the third possession of the half, Chiles threw an alley-oop to Young who was fouled and connected from behind the line on both shots. His next points came when he hit a three giving the Jags their largest lead of the game, 41-31. Not long after, he crashed the boards and tipped the ball in from a Patton miss.

On BSU’s next two possessions, Young stepped up defensively with blocked shots. He led all scorers with 22 points. In the first matchup, Young was held to limited points and minutes from the Cardinal defense shutting him down.

“I forced a lot of shots there and they did a good job with help side too, but this time I adjusted to the help side and was patient. The game came to me,” said Young.

Young had points from the glass. He and Gaines combined for 13 rebounds and each had five offensive boards.

“Things are starting to click with us,” said Young.

The Jags were clearly clicking on all cylinders, from spreading the floor on offense to communicating on defense.

“Early on we were trying to find our identity. We’re going to try to keep the streak alive and not worry about the record so much.”

IUPUI is on a three game winning streak and came into the game with a 6-1 losing record all time to Ball State. The 4-8 Jags are much better than their record according to Howard and Monday nights’ results are more along the lines of what is representative.

“I don’t think our team is what our record is. I think we’re literally three shots away from having a reversal,” said Howard.

It’s not possible to go back in time, but the Jags can look forward to finishing out the six game home streak with momentum on their side going into conference play in January. Next home game is Friday at 1 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse.

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Student on Sports, formerly a part of IUPUI Campus Citizen, is your one-stop-shop for all things sprouting from the head of this American sports fanatic, blogging on European football to American college sports and everything in between!